A strong peak audience of 7.89m watched Lewis Hamilton become a two-time Formula One champion, unofficial overnight viewing figures show.

Race
BBC One’s live coverage of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, screened from 12:10 to 15:30, averaged 4.71m (35.2%), peaking with 6.53m (42.1%) as Hamilton crossed the line. A further 963k (7.3%) watched on Sky Sports F1 from 12:00 to 15:30, their coverage peaked with 1.36m (8.8%) at the same time. The combined average of 5.67m is the highest of the entire season, but it is not the highest ever for Abu Dhabi. In 2010, an average of 5.78m (41.4%) watched Sebastian Vettel’s title victory at the same race track. Having looked at the breakdown, the reason for this is because BBC’s coverage in 2010 started off very high having followed the Remembrance Sunday service directly before it, whereas the start of BBC’s coverage began at a relatively low base in comparison.

At the start of the race, 6.02m (46.8%) were watching BBC One and Sky Sports F1. As always, its worth remembering the figures refer to people, not homes, so this is six million people. That figure climbed quickly to 6.67m (48.7%) by 13:25. After a brief dip for both channels, the combined figure hit 6.84m (48.0%) at 13:50, breaking through the seven million barrier at 14:15. At 14:30, 7.50m (49.8%) were watching as Hamilton entered the final laps, peaking with 7.89m (50.9%) at 14:40. The peak is 530k higher than the 7.36m (50.5%) that watched Vettel’s title win at its peak four years ago.

It goes without saying that the numbers are significantly lower than the 8.8m average and 13.1m peak that watched Hamilton clinched his first title back in Brazil 2008. From a publicity point of view, it does Formula 1 no good whatsoever having the championship decider in Abu Dhabi. By doing that yesterday, Formula 1 lost several million viewers as a result. The UK numbers would have been higher had yesterday’s race been held in Brazil. Okay, I’m not saying the F1 would have peaked with 13.1m viewers yesterday had it been in Brazil as that had some fairly unique circumstances surrounding it, but the peak number would have been higher than 7.89m.

Sky’s extended post-race coverage reaped the rewards of Hamilton’s championship victory. An average of 340k (2.4%) watched their coverage from 15:30 to 16:50, remaining above 400k until after 16:00.

Qualifying and Formula E
Live coverage of qualifying averaged 2.38m (23.8%) on BBC One from 12:10 to 14:15. Sky Sports F1 added 341k (3.6%) during its extended 11:15 to 14:35 slot. The first 45 minutes averaged 208k (2.8%), which is a brilliant figure when you consider that a classic race in the same 45 minute period in the past has failed to average even half of that number. From 12:00 to 14:35, the channel averaged 380k (3.8%), with Sky1’s coverage bringing in 59k (0.6%). The combined figure of 2.82m for the coverage is down on last season’s number, BBC having had highlights of last year’s qualifying session on the fringes of primetime.

Elsewhere, Formula E dropped from its inaugural race in Beijing. Round 2 from Putrajaya averaged 66k (5.1%) from 05:00 to 07:30 on ITV4, peaking with 137k (7.2%) at 06:50. Highlights from 18:00 averaged 95k (0.5%). By no means stellar, but even those low figures beat all GP2 and GP3 programming on Sky Sports F1 and would compare solidly with MotoGP on BT Sport. Had that race been on BT Sport, the figures would have been embarrassing.

Three things did not help Formula E at the weekend. The first undoubtedly was the ten week gap, which sadly for the series was unavoidable. The Putrajaya race was originally meant to be held in October but was moved at the request of the Malaysian government. The date change meant it clashed with the Formula 1 season finale, and of course the late time change to avoid thunderstorms. So Formula E was always on the back foot. That should change now though as Uruguay, Argentina and two rounds in the USA follow between now and April which should help build an audience for the series from Beijing with the races being held in European primetime.

The 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

The Brazilian Grand Prix recorded a rating that was higher than last year, however, the BBC’s highlights show underperformed when you consider its position in the schedule.

Race
Live coverage of the race show, screened exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, averaged 1.01m (6.4%) from 15:00 to 18:30. The number is marginally higher than the Swansea vs Arsenal Premier League game over on Sky Sports 1. That game averaged 1.00m (6.2%) from 15:30 to 19:00, the difference was approximately three thousand viewers between the two programmes. Thanks to airing the race exclusively live, Sky’s number is double last year’s 499k and up on the 734k recorded in 2012 for the equivalent slot.

BBC’s schedulers made the unusual decision of airing the Grand Prix highlights bang in the middle of primetime, after their juggernaut Strictly Come Dancing. Had yesterday been a title decider for Lewis Hamilton, the decision may well have a paid off. Sadly for them the highlights, airing from 20:30 to 22:00 on BBC One, averaged only 3.26m (13.2%) despite having a lead-in of ten million viewers from Strictly. Had the rating been a BBC Two number, it would have been really good. But considering Antiques Roadshow normally averages five million viewers, I think that number, and in particular the share, has to be considered a disappointment.

In hindsight, that slot probably was not the best for Formula 1. I applaud them for putting Formula 1 in the middle of primetime, but on this occasion, it did not work out. The number is down on all previous years for BBC’s Brazilian Grand Prix coverage, so it is fair to say that the highlights programme failed to bring in casual viewers. The combined figure of 4.27 million is up on 2013, but is the second lowest since at least 2006.

Qualifying
Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of qualifying averaged 382k (2.8%) from 15:00 to 17:45, with BBC Two’s highlights programme bringing in 1.47m (6.7%). The combined average of 1.85 million viewers makes it the lowest number since 2007 for a Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session. Whether the relatively low numbers are because this was a ‘dud’ race or not, I don’t know.

So, as perhaps expected with double points, the championship race between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. In 2010, the season finale between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel at Abu Dhabi averaged a whopping 5.78m (41.4%), peaking with 7.36m (50.5%). It remains one of the most watched European based races over the two decades. Can Hamilton versus Rosberg beat that? It will be tough beating that, but time will tell.

The 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.

The United States Grand Prix performed better than 2012 and 2013 in the UK viewing figures, unofficial overnight numbers show.

Race
Live coverage of the race, simulcast across Sky Sports 1 and F1 averaged 1.34m (5.4%) from 19:00 to 22:30. The Sky Sports 1 airing brought 309k (1.2%) to the channel, with Sky Sports F1 averaging 1.03m (4.2%) in the same timeslot. Sky’s coverage peaked at 20:05, just as the race was starting, with 1.93m (7.5%) watching. At the time of the peak, the split was 1.45m versus 479k in Sky Sports F1’s favour. The numbers are up on both 2012 and 2013. In 2012, the race peaked with 1.63m (6.4%). Technically, it is not Sky Sports F1’s highest ever peak, but if you combine the two figures, then it is.

The fact that I’m left to combine them to get a higher number than 2012 means that this years figure is not great. In fact, given the Sky Sports 1 simulcast, you could argue that the race really should have peaked with over two million viewers. Maybe this is a case of me expecting too much, but clearly the ‘Hamilton factor’ is not that big to draw viewers to watch the races live on pay TV, otherwise Sky Sports F1 would have had a bigger audience. If the pay TV model is really going to work, then the viewing figures really need to show a serious shift, which in my opinion they are failing to do so.

An interesting note in the breakdown is that the build-up spiked at 19:20, hitting 1.01m (4.2%) before dropping back down to under a million viewers. That’s interesting, because that five-minute segment featured the Mentality of Winning VT starring Gary Neville, Carl Froch et al, so that part clearly appeased to casual viewers who were flicking through the pre-show.

Over on BBC One, their highlights show from 22:30 to 00:00 averaged 2.51m (22.9%). That number is up on previous years, but previously the US highlights show has ran for two hours instead of 90 minutes, which should be factored in. The combined average of 3.84m is significantly up on last year’s 2.47m, and up on the 3.38m recorded in 2012. However, both numbers are a far cry on the 5.24m (31.9%) average from 2007 when the race was live on ITV.

Qualifying
The qualifying programme on Sky Sports F1 averaged 532k (2.8%) from 17:00 to 19:45, with BBC Two’s highlights averaging 1.23m (7.1%), bringing us to a combined figure of 1.76m. That’s a really poor number for BBC Two’s highlights programme, again when you consider that there is a championship battle involving a British driver ongoing. The number is up on 2013, but down on 2012.

Next weekend should be very interesting, as the BBC have scheduled highlights of the Brazilian Grand Prix in the middle of primetime on BBC One. The highlights rating should be in the region of 4.5m to 5m, but with it now a dead rubber, I’m not very hopeful.

The 2013 United States Grand Prix ratings report can be found here.